Megaport's SDN now extends to Google Cloud's global network

Megaport has added support for Google Cloud's Partner Interconnect, a service from Google Cloud that allows customers to privately connect to Google Cloud Platform.

Google Cloud's Partner Interconnect is a new product in the Google Cloud Interconnect family. Last September, Google announced Dedicated Interconnect, which provides higher-speed and lower-cost connectivity than VPN, and has become the go-to solution to connect on-premises data centres with the cloud.

Megaport said it is now providing connectivity to the nearest Google edge Point of Presence at a variety of sub-rate interface speeds varying from 50 Mbps to 10 Gbps.

"Partner Interconnect gives Google Cloud customers even more connectivity choices for hybrid environments," said, John Veizades, Product Manager, Google Cloud. "Together with Megaport, we are making it easier for customers to extend their on-prem infrastructure to the Google Cloud Platform."

"Scalable connectivity to Google Cloud Platform ensures that cloud-enabled applications perform to meet mission-critical business requirements," said Vincent English, CEO of Megaport. "Google Cloud brings tremendous value to the Megaport Ecosystem and empowers our customers to address a wide variety of business needs. We have been working with Google Cloud since our inception and we are excited to grow and evolve our integration to ensure the next generation of business growth."

Read More

Verizon cites positive momentum and higher earnings

Verizon added 260,000 net retail postpaid connections in Q1 2018, including 220,000 postpaid smartphone nets, along with 66,000 new Fios Internet connections, giving the company positive momentum as it entered the year. Verizon said it is on track to launch a 5G residential broadband service this year.

For first-quarter 2018, Verizon reported EPS of $1.11, compared with 84 cents in first-quarter 2017. On an adjusted basis (non-GAAP), first-quarter 2018 EPS was $1.17, compared with 95 cents in first-quarter 2017. Verizon’s first-quarter 2018 EPS included approximately 21 cents due to tax reform and accounting changes for revenue recognition.

“We began 2018 with strong momentum, and we expect it to continue throughout the year,” said Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam. “We are positioning Verizon for long-term growth while executing our strategy today and leading the way for the next cycle of growth for the industry.”

Some highlights

Wireless results

• Total revenues, excluding the impact of the revenue recognition standard, were $21.9 billion in first-quarter 2018, an increase of 4.7 percent compared with first-quarter 2017.
• Service revenues for the quarter on a reported basis were down 2.4 percent. Excluding the impact from the revenue recognition standard, service revenues were flat. Service revenues improved year over year throughout the quarter, with results turning positive in the month of March when excluding the impact from the revenue recognition standard.
• Verizon now has 81 percent of its postpaid phone base on unsubsidized plans, compared with 72 percent for the same period last year.
• Verizon reported a net increase of 260,000 retail postpaid connections in first-quarter 2018, consisting of net phone losses of 24,000 and tablet losses of 75,000, offset by 359,000 other connected devices gains, primarily wearables. Postpaid smartphone net additions for the quarter were 220,000.
• Total retail postpaid churn was 1.04 percent in first-quarter 2018, a year-over-year improvement. Retail postpaid phone churn of 0.80 percent was the fourth consecutive quarter of retail postpaid phone churn of 0.80 percent or better.

Wireline results

• Total wireline revenues, excluding the impact of the revenue recognition standard, decreased 1.8 percent year over year in first-quarter 2018. Total Fios revenues, excluding the impact of the revenue recognition standard, grew 1.9 percent year over year, driven by growing demand for high-quality broadband service.
• In first-quarter 2018, Verizon added a net of 66,000 Fios Internet connections and lost 22,000 Fios Video connections, indicative of the continued cord-cutting trend regarding traditional linear video bundles.

Read More

Nokia and NTT DOCOMO test 5G using 90 GHz

Nokia and NTT DOCOMO will undertake a joint study and trials on 5G using 90 GHz frequencies.

Nokia Bell Labs has already tested a first phased-array RF chip solution for the 90 GHz band to increase radio coverage in higher frequency bands and deliver multi-gigabit speeds at scale.

At this week's Brooklyn 5G Summit, Nokia, supported by NTT DOCOMO, will show two technology innovations being developed to address these demands:

• The companies will apply a Nokia Bell Labs-developed compact mmWave phased-array antenna system scalable up to 256-elements using an integrated circuit (RFIC) solution in the 90 GHz frequency band to enable multi-gigabit per second speeds. The test will demonstrate how using 5G New Radio (5G NR) enhancements at higher mmWave frequency bands can manage radio complexity and a larger number of antenna beams, while enabling greater bandwidth. It will also show how using a larger number of antenna elements at higher frequency bands can minimize path loss to enable coverage similar to that found using lower mmWave bands.
• A joint demonstration will also show how dynamic offloading relocation in a 5G core will enable the low-latency networks required to support time critical mobile broadband applications for future automation and augmented reality.

Marcus Weldon, President of Nokia Bell Labs, said: "At Bell Labs, we work with leading operators such as NTT DOCOMO to develop disruptive technologies that will redefine human existence. At the Brooklyn 5G Summit, we will show the world's first RF solution that addresses the challenge of delivering optimized coverage for future mmWave frequencies, using a pioneering RFIC design that can be scaled to any array dimension and deliver optimized connectivity to any set of devices."

Read More

Orange deploys Cisco NCS 5500 for its Open Transit Internet backbone

Orange is using the Cisco Network Convergence System (NCS 5500) to modernize and expand the Orange Open Transit Internet (OTI) service, which is a Tier 1 international Internet connectivity service offering direct access to the Internet networks in more than 100 countries through more than 50 points of presence (POPs). Orange's OTI targets both Internet service providers and content providers. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The companies said this initiative expands Orange's OTI network in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, with reduced operational complexity and increased capacity using the new generation of routers on its OTI service.

“Our work with Cisco on OTI supports the further evolution of our network, allowing us to cope with huge traffic growth and improving the reach of our network,” said Jean-Luc Vuillemin, senior vice president, Orange International Networks Infrastructures and Services.

Cisco adds to its Service Provider routing portfolio

Monday, April 09, 2018  Cisco, Routing, Service Providers  1 Comment

Cisco announced the addition of hardware, software and security options to its Service Provider routing portfolio. Highlights include:

Routing hardware 

Cisco NCS 500 Series: addressing converged wireline and wireless 5G-ready requirements for mobile x-haul and future evolutions of Carrier Ethernet networks, and various bandwidth needs ranging from 1 to 100 Gbps interfaces in small form factors.

Cisco ASR 9901: it supports applications such as distributed provider edge, Internet peering, metro aggregation and broadband network gateway (BNG) in a space-optimized platform; It delivers 456 Gbps of port capacity while also providing flexibility in terms of port speeds ranging from 1 to 100 Gbps with industry-leading MACsec encryption support across all ports.

Cisco NCS 5500 Series:

• Two fixed chassis supporting 24 and 36 100GE ports 
• A 36 100GE ports line card targeted at high-density core, mobile backhaul and data center interconnect use cases; Offers flexible port configuration supporting 10G/25G/40G and 100G per port with enhanced scale capabilities (external TCAM) 
• A compact 2RU router targeted at high-density metro aggregation, mobile backhaul networks and long-haul connectivity use cases; Delivers maximum flexibility with the support of Modular Port Adapters (MPA) with options of different port types and MACsec encryption support.

Routing software additions

Segment Routing: Offers service providers more control over Internet traffic by delivering a unified transport fabric across aggregation, edge, core and data center network domains with unmatched simplicity, resiliency and scalability; With Segment Routing Flexible Algorithm, a new addition to the Cisco Segment Routing Traffic Engineering toolkit, service providers can:

• Optimize the same physical network infrastructure along various dimensions such as low-latency, bandwidth or path disjointness. 
• Custom fit 5G network slices to specific applications

Ethernet VPN (EVPN): Cisco is now offering seamless integration with Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS), helping service providers speed up migration from VPLS to EVPN as another method to provide Ethernet-based multipoint to multipoint communication over IP or MPLS networks; EVPN offers improved scalability, optimal forwarding and helps prevent traffic floods.

"Cisco continues to drive innovation in service provider routing to help our customers uplevel their architectures and be one step ahead in managing their network traffic demands,” said Jonathan Davidson, senior vice president and general manager, Service Provider Networking, Cisco.

Read More

ZenFi Networks and Cross River Fiber to merge

ZenFi Networks, which operates a high fiber count network across all five boroughs of the City of New York, will merge with Cross River Fiber, which operates high-capacity and latency-sensitive fiber optic backbone spans throughout New Jersey and New York. The deal will create a leading communications infrastructure provider in the New York and New Jersey metro areas with more than 700 route miles of fiber optic network, 130 on-net buildings, 49 colocation facilities and 1,700 outdoor wireless locations with more than 3,000 under contract.  Financial terms were not disclosed.

“The merger of ZenFi Networks and Cross River Fiber allows us to scale our communications infrastructure portfolio across the region, providing a robust fiber and colocation platform enabling the deployment of a wide range of digital services by mobile network operators, telecommunications service providers and large enterprises,” says Ray LaChance, CEO of ZenFi Networks. “The combination enhances our network reach, deepens our product portfolio, and delivers a next generation network infrastructure that is the foundation of tomorrow’s communications networks. In addition, our partnership with Ridgemont Equity Partners further strengthens ZenFi Network’s financial position by providing access to additional capital to continue to deliver on our vision of building the most pervasive and high capacity connectivity platform in the region.

“While both companies have achieved great success to date, as a combined business, our geographic footprint and product capabilities are greatly expanded,” says Vincenzo Clemente, CEO of Cross River Fiber. “We can now offer custom telecommunications solutions in New York, New Jersey and beyond to more wireless mobility, carrier and enterprise customers than ever before. Our teams are cut from the same cloth – we’re both builders and owners of purpose-built fiber optic networks and wireless infrastructure – and together we will provide that cutting-edge network architecture of both fiber and wireless services to an even bigger customer base.”

Read More

ACG: Network automation investments on the rise

Network automation investments are expected to grow by approximately 30 percent between now and 2021, according to an independent research report by ACG Research and sponsored by Ciena. The study, which surveyed 208 decision-makers from 200 different service providers and large enterprises across the globe, found that 75 percent of respondents expect to achieve full or significant network automation in the next five years.

“We all realize that network automation is happening, but we really wanted to delve deeper into service provider and large enterprise experiences, expectations and challenges with automation. One of the key survey findings that stood out to me was the need for trained, skilled personnel in the area of programmable networks and automation. Operators expect their vendor partners to be able to help them with not only products and services but also with bridging the skills gap between telecom and IT as they execute their automation journey,” stated Tim Doiron, Principal Analyst, Intelligent Networking, ACG Research.

Other Key Findings:

• The top motivations cited for increasing automation include: faster service delivery, improved customer satisfaction, the ability to support more complex and innovative services, and increased business agility.
• Respondents stated that the top concerns and gaps they must address to ensure the success of their network transformations are: security, intelligence/analytics, and a skilled workforce that not only understands traditional telecom networks but new IT and software innovations, as well.
• All regions ranked analytics and security as top requirements when asked what elements are needed to increase automation, but there were some differences of opinion on other requirements. For example, 68 percent of operators in Central and Latin America named the ability to access network performance data as one of the top 3 important elements while 55 percent of respondents in the European region and 40 percent of respondents in the Asia-Pacific region pointed to open, programmable infrastructure as being in the top 3.
• Overall, 60 percent of respondents across the globe indicate openness and interoperability as being “very important” for their automation solution and 82 percent plan to use open source software from vendors or a mix of sources.
• When asked what superhero they want their future network to be associated with, respondents’ top three answers were: The Hulk, Spider-Man, and Black Widow. When asked why, the top responses included Strength, Speed and Intelligence.

“A new theme has started to emerge in our conversations with customers around the globe. Automation, programmability, and intelligence have become critical keystones of future networks. With the pace of growth in capacity, devices, and mobility moving exceedingly fast, adaptive networks, which combine these attributes, will allow organizations to not only survive, but thrive in the face of increasing complexity and unpredictable growth to support the services and applications of tomorrow,” stated – Joe Cumello, Vice President, Head of Global Marketing, Ciena.

Read More

Coriant achieves EcoVadis Gold for the 2nd consecutive year

Coriant has been awarded Gold level recognition in sustainability performance in a survey conducted by EcoVadis, an independent rating agency specialized in the evaluation of supply chain sustainability. This is the second consecutive year that Coriant has received a Gold Rating, placing it among the top 5% of all companies for sustainability performance and excellence.

"The consecutive Gold Award from EcoVadis reflects Coriant’s long-term commitment to conducting its business in an ethically, socially, and environmentally responsible manner,” said Homayoun Razavi, Chief Customer Officer and Executive Vice President of Global Sales & Digital Marketing, Coriant. “Our dedication to CSR drives continual improvement throughout our business and ensures that the value we offer our customers encompasses not only best-in-class technology and multi-sided solution innovation, but also the highest level of sustainability, which is critical today, and for future generations."

Read More